Our Father. My intention was to pray over one specific friend
this morning, as I began my prayer, I joined myself to my sister and prayed, “Our Father….” We share this heavenly
Father; she is my sister, whom I love dearly.
Our Father in Heaven. Heaven has reached into our hearts.
The very kingdom of God is within us, growing and reaching into the lives of
those we love. As we allow God’s love to
grow in us, we expand the kingdom of Heaven here on Earth.
Our Father in Heaven,
holy is Your Name!
Time for the hosannas and the hallelujahs as rejoicing breaks through my prayer
time. How can one commune with our Father, even in times of despair or great
sorrow, without allowing His joy to permeate our prayers, without reverencing all
that is holy?
Thy kingdom come. By joining myself to God I allow His
kingdom to come and reign in my life. I exalt Him as King of kings and Lord of
lords; I submit to Him as God of my life, as God of all life. His kingdom is
the only kingdom I want to explore. There are principalities and dominions I
don’t understand that have hold in the lives of many around us, but, I choose
to live in Christ and allow Christ to reign in me. Every facet of my life
somehow revolves around expanding God’s kingdom reign in the world around me.
Is He God of all? Absolutely! Has He given dominion of the world to man? Yes.
Every unholy choice we make leads us further from the next line…
Thy will be done on
Earth as it is in Heaven. I won’t claim to know God’s will in everything. It’s His will that we
commune with Him, it’s His will that we know His Word, His Son, Jesus. It’s His
will that we love, always. But, whether or not He wants me to take a specific
job or to redecorate my kitchen, well…..sometimes He lets us in on which way to
go, other times, I think He’s willing to bless what we choose. He always guides
and directs us, but, He’s given us tremendous freedom as well.
Can you imagine His perfect will, as it is in Heaven,
surrounding us here on Earth? According to the Bible, I don’t think that will
happen until a new heaven and a new earth are ushered in….but, can you just
imagine it? Yes, we pray come quickly Lord Jesus, and we agree in prayer, Let
Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven. I want God’s perfect will
accomplished in my life, and in the lives of those I love. And yes, in the
lives of everyone on the planet.
How pleasant it is for
brothers to dwell together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)
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What else do we need to thrive? Not just to exist from day to
day, but to really thrive! Our greatest need is something many of us push away,
as if we don’t deserve it, as if it’s a special treat reserved for the truly
worthy. Our greatest need is love; God’s love!
We all need to feel loved. It’s not just a want, it’s a God-given
need. We’re not asking for something God can’t provide. He created us with a built-in
need for His love, and for the love of our fellow man – and perhaps that of a
spouse.
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God freely gives us His love – and more; everything we need
is within our grasp.
And forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Many years ago, I read a column (as
they were called before the word blog became popular) which told the story of a
mother listening as her child prayed at bedtime. Reciting the Lord’s Prayer, he
said, in part, “forgive us our trash passing, as we forgive those who pass
trash against us…” That’s the way I hear it in my head now. Cute? Yes,
adorable. But, just as true.
I think perhaps, this might be the scariest prayer to pray.
Forgive us as we forgive others?
But – what if we’re not so forgiving of others?
Ouch!
Mark 11:25 says, “And
when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so
that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (NIV)
Matthew 6:14-15 says, “For
if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father
will not forgive your sins.” (NIV)
Yeah, to me, that’s some pretty heavy stuff. “But, God…..” we
whine.
There’s the story of the man who was forgiven much then
turned around and demanded that another who owed him a pittance pay up
immediately or he’d have him thrown into debtor’s jail. In Matthew 18:21-35
Peter asks Jesus how many times we’re to forgive those who wrong us. Jesus
explains the parable of the unmerciful servant. Because forgiveness is so
important within the kingdom of God (which reigns in our hearts), I’ll include
the story here.
“Then Peter came to Him
and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?
Up to seven times?”
Jesus said to him, “I do
not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the
kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his
servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who
owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master
commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and
that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master,
have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant
was moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt.
Personal note here, that was a forgiving king! He didn’t just
agree to be patient until the servant could pay him, he forgave the debt
altogether. I wonder how the servant came to owe the king so much, or how he
ever thought he could pay it. But, the king shows mercy, so it’s kind of irrelevant.
But, the parable goes on….
“But that servant went
out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he
laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So
his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience
with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into
prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had
been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had
been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked
servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also
have had compassion o your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his
master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all
that was due him.
“So My heavenly Father also
will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his
trespasses.” (NKJV)
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And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. None of us wants to endure trials, as they tend to stretch
us. But evil? No, none of us ever want to experience evil, personally. Most of
us are grieved to hear of others enduring evil. Although, plenty of us seem to
enjoy watching it on television or at the movie theaters.
Deliver us from evil – when we ask God to lead us in His
ways, to turn us from the path of evil, we’re asking Him to direct our
footsteps. We’re giving up the right to choose to walk down a road that’s
filled with consequences, some we know of, some of which hide in the darkness
along the way. But, we’re directly asking God to spare of us all that.
Then. Sometimes. In our own stubbornness, we continue down
that road, because the temptations seem so rewarding in the moment. Then, we
wonder why God allowed such evil to befall us. In a word; consequences.
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God chastens those He loves. Yes. But, punishment is reserved
for the wicked. Consequences follow when we walk where God has clearly shown us
not to. We can’t feign ignorance, we have the Holy Spirit living on the inside
of us.
If I tell my granddaughter not to ride her bike in the middle
of the road, and she defiantly does so anyway. She may get hit by a car. Being
hurt by the car isn’t a punishment for riding where she was told not to, it’s a
consequence. My telling her to be careful not to pedal there was a warning out
of love, not me playing dictator and keeping her from “all the fun”.
For Thine is the
kingdom, the power and the glory – forever and ever. Amen.
Here comes the rejoicing and the hallelujahs again. What a
thrill to share in God’s kingdom and in His power and in His glory! It’s all
His, but, He chooses to bless us in all of it, simply because we are in Him and
He is in us! Hallelujah! Ponder His kingdom, His power and His glory!
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Along the trail, God brought my attention to a tiny ant
carrying a stick that was measurably, much bigger than he was. As he made his
way across the smooth sidewalk, I was impressed. He skittered down the edge of
the sidewalk and through the grains of sand, that looked like boulders around
him. He didn’t seem to let the harshness of his terrain deter him from his task
at all.
Sometimes, our hearts are heavy and we carry them around for
everyone to see, or we hide the struggle as if we’re punishing ourselves for
feeling the crushing weight of whatever it is we’re going through.
Though our terrain changes, God is still God and at the end
of the day, He’s still the One Who carries us. He’s still the One Who gets all
the glory. He’s always the One Who never gives us on us; Who will always answer
our call. He is still, our Father.
“Now unto him that is
able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence
of his glory with exceeding joy,
To the only wise God
our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”
– Jude 1:24-25 (KJV)
